I Didn't Mean To Do It
by But a Chance
Summary: This is a non-slash Nick and Greg story, and what happens during idle time at the lab. The rest of the crew is thrown in for good measure and my own personal amusement.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own any copyrights to CSI or any of the characters.

**This story is next in the song-fic challenge found on the CSIFiles site. The song is: "It was an Accident" written by Don Conoscenti **(words to the song are at the end of this story.)

**Summary: This is a non-slash, Nick/Greg story, and what happens during idle time at the lab. The rest of the crew is thrown in for good measure, and my amusement. **

**I Didn't Mean To Do It**

Weeks upon weeks the Las Vegas Crime Lab employee lounge was a ghost town during the grave shift hours. It seemed whenever someone had a few minutes reprieve, a new case would come in, evidence would need immediate processing, or an old case would break. It each the point where even grabbing a cup of coffee became a challenge. But, tonight was different the employee lounge was a hub of activity. Crime was taking a holiday and everyone on grave shift was thrilled.

Catherine decided to give her weary team a much needed break. They deserved relief from the norm, some down time, a moment to enjoy each others company...until the next case came, in of course.

Mandy, Wendy and Hodges were in the middle of an intense game of Trivial Pursuit. Meanwhile, Super Dave and Henry were discussing the latest UFO sighting near Lake Mead, and the impending doom it may bring. Greg and Archie were playing a one sided game of Blackjack, and were quickly becoming bored. They searched for something else to do, anything else, and then Greg remembered…

"Nick picked up his new Playstation 3 console, and the "Kane and Lynch Dead Men" game on the way to work today. I'm going to see if he'll let us use it, anything would be better than this." Greg said.

"Good luck with that." Archie replied.

Greg went in search of Nick, and found him with Catherine, in her office, behind piles of files and reports. Greg begged, even pleaded with Nick to try out the new system. After much hesitation, Nick finally relented, and handed the new, shiny package over to Greg…with the promise he'd be careful with it. Nick had hoped to be the first to use his new PS 3, but if not him, at least Greg and Archie would have fun. Being the Assistant Supervisor had its good points, but not tonight.

"I can't believe you're letting those guys use your new game system. You know how they get." Catherine remarked.

"They'll be careful, and if not, I've got you and Brass on speed-dial to handle the carnage and crime scene when I'm finished with them." Nick laughed.

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The employee lounge became louder and louder by the second. Archie and Greg were locked in heated battle as they fought it out on the game. Both were standing, jumping, and bumping shoulders with each other as they fought to win the next level.

And then it happened…

Greg made the kill shot, won the round. He jumped up and down, flung the controller wildly, and spun around in a pirouette. Everyone in the room gasped as the controller wire wrapped around his body, and caused the game console to teeter on the top self of the television stand. Greg heard the collective OH NO! But, it was too late.

The game console tumbled to the floor in a thousand, unrecognizable pieces. Even the game disc shattered beyond recognition.

Mandy, Wendy, Henry and Hodges scurried quickly out of the lounge, much like their lab-rat moniker implied. Super Dave shook his head back and forth…"Man, Nick is going to kill you guys," and then made his beeline for the exit.

"What do we do Greg? Dave's right! Nick is going to kill us!" Archie pleaded.

"I'll call Cath, she'll help us out." Greg replied.

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"Willows"

"Uh Cath…uh, just answer yes or no. Is Nick still in the room with you?"

"Yes…why?"

"It was an accident. I didn't mean to do it. Can you get here quick? I'm in the employee lounge." Greg begged.

"What did you do?" Catherine asked.

Nick looked up from his paperwork with a; "what's wrong" expression on his face.

Catherine turned slightly, and ignored the questioning look.

"Uh…well…it's like this: you know how we borrowed Nick's PS3, well…I kind of broke it."

"You kind of did what!?" Catherine exclaimed, again Nick looked up quizzically, and again Catherine ignored the questioning look.

"How do I get myself into these things? I can't get myself back out. If Nick finds out he'll shoot me, then the police are probably coming, because someone would've heard the shot…I could really use a hand Cath."

"There's only one thing to do…man-up to your mistake. I'm afraid I can't help you this time." Catherine replied, knowing she wanted no part of this battle.

"But…but…but Catherine you have to help me. You know how Nick gets." Greg pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but not this time." Catherine said, before quickly ending the call.

"Is someone having problems with Ecklie?" Nick curiously enquired.

"No…no nothing like that, but it's a potential problem; one I want no part of. You know, you should take a break Nicky, grab a cup of coffee. You've been working for hours, and besides I need to call Lindsey, mom and daughter talk, I could use a few moments of privacy." Catherine said with a smile, almost a laugh.

"Sure, please make your call, tell Lind's I say hi." Nick replied, as he got up to leave the room.

Catherine knew it was wrong to send Nick into the lounge at this precise moment, he has always been so dear to her, but for some reason she couldn't help herself. Call it a perverse sense of humor, or stirring a hornet's nest, or lack of good supervisory judgment. No matter how anyone judged it…it would be fun to give her boys a little payback for all the angst they caused her over the years. The consequences were well worth any upcoming reprimand by Ecklie.

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Greg was shocked when Catherine ended the call, but he was even more shocked that she wouldn't help save him.

"Catherine won't help; you gotta get outta here Arch. Save yourself!"

"No, I can't let you take all the heat." Archie offered.

"It's ok, get out while you can." Greg said. Archie left the room quickly, and headed back to the safe confines of the A/V lab.

Greg looked down at the shattered mess on the hard tile floor, beads of sweat poured down his brow. "Holy shit what am I going to do?" Greg said to himself or so he thought to himself.

Nick entered the employee lounge, coffee mug in hand, and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down at the mess of broken plastic on the floor.

"Greg! Tell me that is not what I think it is." Nick yelled, while Greg just about jumped out of his skin.

"Uh…well…uh…Nick it was an accident. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't know. Uh…see…uh, Arch and I were playing the Kane and Lynch Dead Men game, and you know the part where Kane is in his house?"

"No Greg, I don't know that part…I never got to play the game!" Nick yelled in frustration.

"Oh yeah I forgot, well see Kane is in his house and someone pounds on his door. Then Kane says: I didn't even know him. He said give me all your money and don't try to fight. He had a gun on me right at my own front door. Then the game starts back up, and I was frozen till the neighbor (on the game) put on a light. Well see that's when I kicked as hard and fast as I could, and he went right down. I got him good and then I reached for his gun, and took him down. Dude it was so cool."

"And exactly how did that break my game, did the game pull a Mission Impossible and self destruct after sixty seconds? Or maybe it developed artificial intelligence and decided to commit suicide, took a leap from the shelf?"

"Uh it was an accident. I didn't mean to do it." Greg apologized.

"Come on man! What the hell happened?" Nick yelled. The yell could be heard throughout the lab, and though everyone empathized with Greg, no one was willing to get in the middle of pissed off Nick.

"I…uh…I won the level, I whooped Archie's ass, and you know how it is?" Greg tried to explain.

"No! I don't know how it is! I never got to play the damn thing!!"

"I'm sorry…I got excited, and uh…I started doing my famous victory dance, and then the cord got wrapped up, and the console just sorta fell."

"Sorta fell! I'd say it definitely fell." Nick took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself. Greg bowed his head in deep remorse.

"Shit Greg, I saved for months for that thing, you know what we make a year, it's not like I have a ton of disposable income."

"I know, and I really didn't mean to do it." Greg said once again.

"You know you are going to replace it…right? Like today."

"As soon as shift is over me and Archie will get a new system for you."

"Look Greg, I know accidents happen, and you didn't mean to do it, but ya gotta understand something. After my kidnapping, after I got out of the hospital, remember how I couldn't sleep, how restless I was?"

Greg shook his head yes, while Nick continued his tortured trip down memory lane.

"Man, I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking, and those fucking bites wouldn't stop itching. I couldn't concentrate on reading or watching television shows, and I wasn't allowed to do anything else. The only thing that kept me from going insane was my stupid old Playstation and a few games. See it didn't matter if my hands shook, or that I couldn't sit still. If I lost my concentration it only affected my score. To this day, whenever I'm tense, or have a crappy day, I go home and unwind with some time on the PS. I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes destructing a few things on a game helps, ya know?" Nick explained.

"Oh hell Nick, I really am sorry. I swear I'll replace the system today, and by the way, it doesn't sound crazy unwinding with the games. We all have our coping mechanisms, for me it's driving out to Lake Mead with techno rock blasting till my car actually rocks."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me. So let me guess, you were the one on the phone with Catherine a little while ago?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, that was me. I can't believe she wouldn't help me out. She hung up on me!" Greg answered.

"And she sent me down here, knowing full well what I'd find. Maybe we need to turn the tables on her, I'm sure we can get a few people to help us out." Nick said, an almost evil smile crossing his features.

"What do you have in mind?" Greg asked excitedly.

Nick filled Greg in on his evil payback plan, and within minutes they had a full crew of conspirators to help.

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Catherine saw Mandy and Wendy hurrying past her open office door, seconds later her cell phone rang.

"Willows"

"Catherine, can you get here quick? I'm in the employee lounge, it's bad…real bad." Brass yelled into the phone, and then hung up before she could reply.

"Aww crap, I can't believe those guys got into it over a stupid game. I swear I'm going to suspend both of them for a month…without pay! What was I thinking sending Nick down there…shit…shit…shit!" Catherine said to herself.

Catherine was walking down the corridor, when she heard a blood curling scream. "Was that Wendy?" She picked up her pace, almost jogging, and then she heard the echo of someone moaning, and began to run. "Good Lord Nick, I hope you didn't hurt Greg."

Rounding the corner she found a crowd of onlookers, she pushed and shoved her way through the throng.

"Nick! What did you..." Catherine didn't finish the sentence.

Sitting in front of her were Nick and Greg, arms crossed over their chest, with Cheshire cat smiles gracing their faces.

"What the…" Catherine said dumbfounded.

"Payback's a bitch Cath, you should know that." Nick smirked.

"You know, it was rude of you not to help me out of a jamb Catherine." Greg said smugly.

"And, it was downright mean to send me down here with no heads-up to what I'd find." Nick added.

"I'm going to kill you guys! Everyone out! Now!" Catherine yelled.

Nick and Greg tried to look remorseful, but they couldn't stop snickering long enough for it to work. Jim Brass decided to take pity on the guys, and stuck around for moral support.

"I can't believe you guys would do this to me, and don't think I forgot about you Jim Brass, you took part in this too."

"Hey, I just made the call, they did the scheming." So much for moral support, Jim thought as the words left his mouth.

"Come on Cath, it was just a joke, and besides you're not exactly innocent in this either." Nick said.

Catherine stood in front of the three culprits, hands on her hips, watching the guys begin to sweat. She was pissed off at them, but part of her had to agree, she did deserve some payback.

"No real harm was done, so I _**may**_ let you guys off the hook. Out of curiosity, who came up with this grand scheme?"

"I take full responsibility for it. I talked the others into helping. If there's to be any reprimand, then it should fall on my shoulders." Nick admitted.

Catherine couldn't believe her sweet, empathetic Nicky could be so surreptitious.

"And these two had nothing to do with the planning? I find that hard to believe."

"Sorry, but believe it…I'm guilty. Nick replied.

"Like I said no real harm was done, except for a few more grey hairs on my head. I suppose I do deserve some payback for sending you down here Nicky, and for not helping you, Greg. You guys are off the hook." Catherine said.

"Thanks for being a good sport about this Cath." Nick offered.

"That's me, the good sport. I'll meet you back in my office Nicky, we have paperwork to finish." With that Catherine left the lounge. As she walked back to her office she had to laugh to herself at the whole thing. Worldly wise Catherine Willows was just duped by Nicholas Stokes. Her little plan of payback backfired. What was the world coming to? She reminded herself to ask Nick how he and Greg settled the score concerning the broken Playstation game. She imagined Greg's checking account would be a few dollars lighter by the end of the day.

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Back in the employee lounge, three men were breathing a sigh of relief, especially Nick.

"Stokes, I swear your ass is fricking charmed. No one, but you could escape the wrath of Willows." Brass said.

"Trust me, I haven't escaped her wrath. I'll be doing paperwork out my ass, and garbage runs for the next six months, but it was worth it. Man, did you see the look on her face?" Nick laughed.

"Paperwork out the ass $500.00, Garbage runs for six months $1000.00, the look on Catherine's face…priceless." Greg joked.

"Cost of a new Playstation 3 $300.00, cost of replacing a broken game $50.00, the look on Greg's face while he's buying them…priceless." Brass returned.

"That is so not funny Jim." Greg replied.

"Oh, I think it's real funny, and I'm going along with you when you buy it, just to see your expression." Nick said.

"Call me before you guys leave; I have to see that expression too." Brass said as he left the lounge.

"I guess we're going shopping after shift?" Greg asked.

"Yep, you're not getting off the hook for this one." Nick answered.

"I didn't mean to do it, Nick." Greg said, as the two men exited the lounge and headed back to work. Nick to Catherine's office and Greg as far away from Nick and Catherine as possible.

THE END…

**It Was an Accident**  
Written and performed by Don Conoscenti

It was an accident. I didn't mean to do it  
Come on now, I need you to understand  
Can you get here quick?  
The police are probably coming  
Someone would've heard the shot  
I could really use a hand

How do I get myself into these things?  
I can't get myself back out

It was an accident. I didn't even know him  
He said "give me all your money and don't try to fight"  
He had a gun on me right at my own front door

I was frozen till the neighbor put on a light

That's when I kicked as hard and fast as I could  
He went right down. I got him good  
then I reached for his gun

It was an accident. I didn't mean to do it

I hear sirens coming now. Can you get here quick?


End file.
